Well, well, well... now there's a deep thought.
Where has this blog gone? I know its absence had some of you saying "Daggett, Yermo!" Well, I was saying the same whenever I drove on Daggett-Yermo Road outside of Barstow, CA. Google it. Or better yet, Google Maps it.
Where did we leave off? Oregon Coast? Hoo boy... much has happened. A brief gestalt of each stop.
Crescent City, Redwoods National Park
Disaster struck our RV upon pulling into Village Camper Inn. A combination of an inexperienced RV puller (me), tight spots, and lots of poles to delineate each spot. Too many poles, some would say. Me? I blame the driver. Anyway, I scraped the fender of the 5th wheel against a pole as I was pole-ing in. Pretty minor cost-metic damage. Will probably look into a replacing the fender when we get back to WA.
Very peaceful stay, overall. The majesty of the Redwoods really was something to behold. To date, probably my favorite "family adventure" that we've done anywhere was our later afternoon river hike in Fern Canyon at Gold Bluffs Beach, between Crescent City and Eureka. For those of you familiar with the Oneonta Gorge hike in the Columbia River Gorge, it's a very similar vibe, but there's also a beach with elk. We definitely want to return for a long weekend someday.
Red Bluff, Redding, Lassen Volcanic National Park
We stayed at the KOA in Red Bluff. Nice digs, but spendier than some of the other RV Parks or Campgrounds. We spent a family afternoon in Redding at the Sundial Bridge and nearby walks. We also ate a lot of In-n-out while in Redding, and I discovered that returns to Ace are not really "a thing" if you're not going back to the store of purchase.
I took a half-day off of work and we went to Lassen Volcanic National Park for the late morning to afternoon. This place was a sight to behold. I hadn't seen any sort of volcanic activity since I was a 6-year-old at Yellowstone. There were awe-inspiring boiling mudpots on the side of the road near the visitor center. The vistas of the surrounding mountains were also astounding.
Hannah, Calvin and I hiked to Bumpass Hell, a larger area of geothermal activity. It was not an easy hike at that time of year (snow on the ground), particularly for children without the proper gear. But we (I) were (was) determined. And it was definitely worth it, not only for the sights at the end, but for the lesson in perseverance and the reward of shakes and animal-style fries that were earned afterward.
Olema, Muir Woods National Monument
The RV update here was that it was a busy weekend at the only campground in the Bay Area that allows big(ger) rigs, Olema Campground. We didn't think we would get a spot for the day that we wanted, but thankfully they fit us in probably the narrowest back-in spot we had had to-date. Probably not as difficult to get in as the Alpaca Farm (0 stars!), but still not easy. Our neighbors were already there partying for the Veteran's Day Weekend. So I got to have an intoxicated audience for backing in! Could be worse, I suppose. Straight back-in didn't really work (poles), driver-side back-in didn't seem like it would work due to poles/angle. I ended up doing a passenger-side back-in with a fairly long runway. While attempting the straight-ish back-in, my intoxicated neighbor came up and refreshed my memory on the basics of how to turn the steering wheel in order to get the RV to turn. Not super helpful, but hey, his heart was in the right place. Guess I must have looked pretty pathetic.
Once we got parked and hooked up to water and electric, my sister Lindsay came over for a dinner of our famous lentil soup and a night of Apples to Apples. It was a really fun time. We've loved every time we have gotten to see a familiar face on this trip, and this was no exception.
The next day, we went on a hike with Lindsay at Muir Woods. Beautiful. The drive from Olema along the cliffs on 101 was also stunning. It would have been a lot more fun in a Tesla Model S than in a Ford F350, but beggars can't be choosers, as they say. We also drove across the Golden Gate Bridge that afternoon, just for the views and to say we had done it, and spent the afternoon at Stinson Beach. I've always been a Bay Area skeptic, but I can see why people are willing spend the money to live there after spending a couple days. It gives the beauty of the northwest a run for its money.
While there, Calvin earned himself a local chocolate-covered apple by helping a nice couple from Danville unlock their teardrop trailer by climbing through the back window. They gave him the apple, not me.
This will have to suffice for now, since I need to turn my attention elsewhere. Pictures below. Up next-- Sequoia, Death Valley, Channel Islands and Thanksgiving.
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